


The Fire Arrangement

by malazuzu22



Series: Random short MadaTobi [11]
Category: Naruto
Genre: ADHD Tobirama, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Detective Madara, Developing Relationship, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fire Accident, Helping stranger in need, M/M, Madara has a crush, Neurobiologist Tobirama, Protective Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug, Strangers to Lovers, Tobirama has self-esteem issues, and they were roommates!
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:02:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28095858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malazuzu22/pseuds/malazuzu22
Summary: Who would have thought a phone call in the middle of the night could change everything.
Relationships: Senju Hashirama & Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama/Uchiha Madara
Series: Random short MadaTobi [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/855148
Comments: 38
Kudos: 181





	1. A stranger without a home

**Author's Note:**

> So. Emboldened by finishing something after months of not writing a damn thing (that christmas fic ofc), this bitch has the audacity to start something multichaptered. Unbelievable. :D I have all intentions to keep it relatively short but there should be POV of both Madara and Tobirama, hence multiple chapters.

It had been one hell of a day. It went by in a flurry. First thing in the morning, right after he arrived at the station, Madara got a message from the tech guys to come and see the results of the tests they ran overnight. Over the course of previous days they were trying to unravel one armed robbery turned into homicide. Their forensics team collected a good amount of samples on the crime scene pertinent to the case that required identification and the tech department finally cracked the composition and likely origin of fibers found on the victim’s clothes.

What was more important though, the coroner previously found some marks of defence during the autopsy – apart from the obvious fatal stab wound in the victim’s abdomen inflicted by a sharp object, most likely a knife – and the forensics techs were able to find bits of tissue in the samples taken from under the victim’s nails. After running DNA tests and running them through the database, they fortunately found a match.

The matched person was previously charged several times of misdemeanour such as public intoxication, disorderly conduct and assault. On top of that, he had been also convicted of felony, namely possession with intent to supply and had recently been released on parole after serving several years in prison.

Naturally, they had to contact the Narcotics division and get more details on the suspect. After they procured a warrant, they raided the suspect’s home and found him intoxicated on the bathroom floor. The forensics team was still investigating the house for any evidence but it was apparent to everyone from the bloodied clothes in the bin made out of the same fabric previously identified on the victim’s body they had the right guy.

The evidence so far was strong enough for the man to be booked to prison, charged for assault and recurrent drug possession and abuse while the team was building up the case against him and getting all the evidence together before the court trial where the prosecutor would bring charges of second-degree murder.

They believed the suspect relapsed shortly after leaving jail and increasing demand for drugs was the reason he turned to robbery. Only his last victim wasn’t so willing to part with her belongings, the unfortunate soul. His work on this case was mostly done as his colleague, another detective, together with their sergeant, were going to the court hearing.

After he clocked out of work, he bought a pizza on his way home, crashed on the couch in his sweats and chilled here for a while, watching TV. Then he showered and landed face first into bed. At last, Madara was tucked in his bed, getting his well-deserved rest.

That was, until his phone started ringing. At first, he jumped up, thinking it was some emergency from work. After all, his alarm clock clearly displayed it was well past midnight, who in their right minds would be calling other than work at that time of the night? But to his surprise and mild irritation, it was an unknown caller, not one of his colleagues.

He decided to let the phone ring and call the person back at the more appropriate time. Or never. Depending on how well he would sleep. He yawned widely and settled under the covers, ignoring the aggravating ringing for a long while before it finally went silent. He barely let out a breath of relief when the phone went again. This time, his annoyance flared up.

‘What? Do you know what time is it? What the hell do you want?’ He picked up the phone and practically shouted into the receiver.

‘Erm. There’s no mistaking it’s really you. Nice to hear you again Madara. Although I almost stopped hoping you would actually pick up.’ The caller responded in a melodic baritone. That voice struck Madara like lightning. It sounded vaguely familiar yet he couldn’t immediately place it.

‘Who’s this and where did you get my number?’ He hissed incredulously with mounding suspicion. Was it any of the felons he helped get into jail? Did they want to threaten him?

‘I’m sorry, my brother gave it to me. He said you might know what to do.’ The caller responded. Something about them seemed off. Like they were very distracted. Were they drunk?

‘Do about what? Which brother? I’m sorry, do I know you?’ Madara pressed. He started to get impatient being kept awake and getting no clear answers.

‘Ah, yeah. My apologies, I’m not thinking straight. This is Tobirama. Senju Tobirama.’ The person clarified.

Finally the pieces clicked together. Senju Tobirama, aka the “little brother” of his childhood friend, Senju Hashirama. Madara was but a teenager when his family moved out of the small town he was born in but he was still in touch with Hashirama. Or perhaps better, Hashirama insisted on keeping in touch with him as Madara wasn’t particularly good at keeping friends. Come to think about it, he might have mentioned one of his three brothers recently moved into the same city but he didn’t consider it important enough to remember.

‘Oh. Okay. Seems legit. And what exactly do you need at 1:38 in the morning, Tobirama?’ Madara yawned, half because he was really worn out and half to emphasize the inopportune time the Senju decided to call at.

‘Well, long story short. My home is currently burning in front of my eyes. There are firemen and policemen running all over the place. Hashirama said you work for the police too?’ The man breathed out, clearly feeling miserable.

‘That sounds awful. What street is it?’ Madara inquired while blundering in the dark to locate his bedside table and turn on the lamp.

‘St Johns Ridge. What do I do now? I’ve no one to turn to here, I don’t really know anyone. Heck, I don’t even really know you, do I? I don’t know why I called but I shouldn’t. I’m bothering a stranger in the middle of the night with a problem that has absolutely nothing to do with you!’

Up until now Tobirama held it together well but the mounding panic and distress could be clearly heard from his little rant. Madara felt a sudden surge of sympathy towards the man. He rubbed at his tired eyes and sighed. He was really worn out and this wasn’t how he imagined he would spend this night but inside of his head, he has already made a decision.

‘Wait, wait, wait, don’t hang up! Calm down, Tobirama, kay? I’ll help you. Stay where you are, I’ll get there and we’ll figure something out. Do you think you can do that?’ Madara tried to soothe him, already getting his exhausted ass out of his bed. He had his fair share talking to people in distress to apply some psychological methods here. He suppressed a curse when he stumbled and kicked his toe on the bed frame.

‘Yeah, I can do that. It’s not like I have a clue what else to do anyway.’ Tobirama sniffed quietly.

‘It will be alright. Just stay put and wait for me, I’ll be there in a while.’ Madara reassured him gently.

‘Okay, thank you. See you in a few then.’ The other man whispered and hung up.

Madara wasn’t really sure what compelled him to help the stranger in need. Well, not a complete stranger. Everyone knew everyone back in their old town and it was a natural to help each other out. Perhaps it rubbed on him, even though he didn’t remember much about Tobirama. Or perhaps he felt pity towards him. He sure did sound desperate. It had to be terrible to lose everything in a minute. Plus, he was mainly doing it for his friend. Hashirama wouldn’t forgive him should he leave his precious baby brother alone in the cold.

He haphazardly threw on some clothes he found on the pile mounting on the bedroom chair, took his car keys and went out of his flat. He pushed the button to call the elevator but then an important thought occurred to him. He would he even recognize Tobirama when he got there? As far as he knew, Hashirama had three brothers and he indistinctly remembered some of their features as kids but he didn’t have the foggiest which one was which. And they were just kids back then.

He fished out his phone and decided to try his luck with facebook. After he typed the name into the search bar, one person with the same name and one shared friend popped on top of the list. Bingo!

‘God bless the era of social media.’ Madara snorted to himself and clicked on the profile.

A moment later, he was left gaping at the profile picture of the man he was supposed to meet in a few minutes. He was like an exact opposite of dark-haired, brown-eyed tanned Hashirama. Tobirama’s hair was silvery grey, quite short but still sticking in all directions in soft wisps, skin almost ghostly white pecked with a good amount of equally pale freckles and he was looking at him from his phone screen with deep red eyes. But the most intriguing part of his face was the faintest of smiles playing on his thin lips.

In no way would Madara ever describe his ideal type of a man looking like Senju Tobirama. Yet now staring at him with mouth ajar, he just knew Tobirama had to be the most attractive person his sight ever landed on. There was just something fascinating about his pale beauty that took the Uchiha’s breath away.

He barely registered the ding of the elevator door finally opening for him. This night apparently took another completely unexpected turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, any thoughts you guys? :)


	2. I need a hero

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First thing first - thank you guys for all the love you gave the first chapter! This time, Tobirama's POV.

To say that Tobirama had a rough day was an understatement. In the morning he was checking upon the rats in experiment, changing bedding in a few cages and taking notes of newly born litters. He had scheduled running PCR test of samples taken from litters born two weeks ago for most of the afternoon but during his second batch of samples the thermocycler unexpectedly broke down. It wasn’t that uncommon for that dratted obsolete thing but this time it required specialized attention rather than tweaking a few cables as usually.

What was very unfortunate, samples currently placed inside the cycler were, of course, ruined. He would have to take new tissue samples which would be an inconvenience for both the rat pups and him. Well, mostly him because the pups were now almost adult and they indeed had very sharp teeth.

The most unfortunate thing though was that he needed the PCR results that very day so he was destined to stay in the lab late and wait for the tech guy to appear and fix the twice damned cycler. He’d been promised the tech guy would get to them as soon as possible but that wasn’t until 5:30 PM and the repair itself took two freaking hours. Tobirama was cursing seven hells. It took another three hours to complete the test run and by that time he was almost out of his wits.

He clocked out and dragged himself to the bus station. He did own an old car but he preferred to use public transport around the city so Itama was currently using his old Fiesta as his first car back in Konoha. At this time of the day, not many people were travelling in the bus and most of them looked rather unsavoury. He sat down at the very back of the vehicle, distancing himself as much as possible.

He was exhausted, both physically and mentally. His temples were throbbing as well as his thumb where he took a bite from one of the aggravated rats. He couldn’t really blame the poor critter though, after all he was again punching a small hole through its ear to take another sample. He would be angry too.

On top of that, his insides were churning uncomfortably. He was starving, the last meal he took was a turkey sandwich he hastily gobbled up during his short lunch break. He was ready to gorge anything that didn’t require any cooking and fall into his bed when he got off the bus.

He definitely wasn’t ready for the sight presented to him when he turned the corner to St Johns. The street was painted in red, thick smoke rising from the old apartment building sitting somewhere in the middle. Red and white trucks of the fire department were stationed there, pouring relentlessly vast amounts of water into the inferno, trying to subdue it. Firemen were running about, yelling at one another and valiantly combatting the flames. Among them, policemen were trying to appease the amassed crowd of curious onlookers and several press journalists.

Tobirama quickened his pace, feeling of foreboding inside his head getting stronger and stronger.  _ ‘This could not be true. Please don’t let it be the truth.’  _ He thought to himself desperately but he was completely out of fortune here. The closer he got the more the reality sunk in – the building, full of raging fire, now half down as the roof collapsed in, was indeed his apartment complex.

Crap! All of his stuff, his clothes, personal belongings, all gone. He pushed through the crowd to get as close as possible to see the apocalypse for himself. No matter the heat.

‘Mister, back off please, it’s not safe.’ One of the policemen stopped in front of him, effectively shielding most of the dreadful scene.

‘But…’ Tobirama opposed, only to be cut off.

‘No exceptions. You need to keep distance for your own safety. Don’t make me use force.’ The officer insisted firmly.

‘No, you don’t understand. That’s my home!’ Tobirama shouted at him. He was not getting it. Tobirama wasn’t some dumb curious onlooker!

‘Oh. Pardon me sir. I’m sorry for you. In that case, would you mind going with my colleague here?’ The officer beckoned one of his colleagues towards them and quickly passed her a few words Tobirama didn’t quite hear. The woman looked at him with obvious pity and nodded.

‘Sir, I’m officer Diaz. I’ve been informed you’re one of the tenants living in this building. I understand this is all very distressing for you but would you mind answering a few questions for me?’ She approached him and put a hand on his forearm. Her voice was full of sympathy.

Tobirama nodded numbly and allowed her to lead him towards a cluster of cars where the police were stationed and paramedics were prepared.

‘Is he injured?’ One of the paramedics approached them.

‘I don’t think so. He just arrived here. He’s one of the tenants.’ Officer Diaz informed him, sparing Tobirama of replying for himself. He frankly wasn’t sure he would find his voice in the immediate future.

‘Okay. Let me give you some blanket and a cup of water. You don’t look so well to me.’ The paramedic turned directly to him, wearing the same expression of sympathy. Truth to be told, Tobirama did feel like he could have a full blown panic attack any moment.

When he was wrapped in the blanket – officer Diaz helped to tuck him into it without question – and clutching on his cup, the policewoman thanked the paramedic and led him towards her car. She opened the car trunk and motioned for him to sit on the edge of it while she disappeared for a moment to fish some paperwork from the front seat.

‘Now. I’m going to have to ask you a few basic questions. It would be a lot easier for me if you could show me some identification.’ She returned to him, papers in one hand and a pen in the other.

Tobirama nodded and set aside the cup so he could rummage through his bag to fish out his wallet and identity card, which he handed to her. ¨

‘Thank you.’ She smiled at him encouragingly and took a while to copy the information into her form. He let her do her job and instead focused his sight towards the fiery scene. How could this happen to him? What did he do to deserve it? He was now practically homeless, wasn’t he?

‘So, Mr Senju, how long have you been living here?’ Officer Diaz brought him back from his desperate musings, handing him the card back.

‘Umm…’ It took him a moment to will his voice chords to cooperate with him. ‘About four months I think?’ He counted mentally from the date he moved in.

‘Alright. Were there any objects of notable value in your apartment?’ She inquired further.

‘Not really. Just the usual.’ Tobirama shrugged. He lived modestly from the moment he decided to forage on his own and cut the ties with his father.

‘Ok, I’ll fill in furniture, clothes, appliances and so on.’ Officer Diaz elaborated on for him.

‘Did you notice anything unusual around the building lately? Anyone behaving strange for example?’ She posed another question. It sort of took Tobirama by surprise.

‘Um. The couple from the third, apartment right above mine. They were constantly fighting. I think the man was abusing the woman.’ Tobirama recalled. He never knew when they could start, there was yelling above his head no matter the time of the day. But mostly when the man returned home drunk in the middle of the night.

‘Uh-huh, interesting. Do you know their names?’ Officer Diaz noted everything he said.

‘No, but I called the police on them several times. As far as I know the woman always rejected he was doing anything to her.’ Tobirama shrugged. He knew what was happening upstairs was wrong but he didn’t really know what else he could do for the woman when she kept covering her abuser.

‘Alright. We should be able to find those reports. Anything else?’ She looked at him from the papers.

‘Can’t recall anything. I mostly keep to myself.’ Tobirama shrugged.

‘That’s fine, thank you.’ She nodded gratefully and scribbled some more on the papers.

Tobirama’s attention shifted back to the fire site. One of the water currents coming out was at the moment pouring right through the place his kitchen window used to be. It wasn’t very likely there would be anything salvageable left when the fire was over…

‘That would be all for now. Although I suspect you might have some questions yourself.’ Officer Diaz pocketed her pen and sat next to him.

‘How did this happen? How long has it been going?’ Tobirama voiced the most pressing questions, glad she was willing to provide any answers.

‘We won’t be sure until the fire is stopped and investigation launched but according to one of your neighbours who called 911 the fire started in one of the flats on the third floor. Possibly the one you were talking about. It has been reported three hours ago and the fire unit were doing his utmost to subdue it but you can see for yourself how their efforts are going.’ She grimaced at him, again eyes full of sympathy.

‘As for entering the remnants of your apartment,’ she winced slightly when she saw his crestfallen face, ‘we will notify you if and when it would be possible. The fire department will first have to assess the condition of the house structure and whether it’s safe to enter. Also, you can expect there will be ongoing investigation regarding the source of fire and property damage. It might be a while before you’re allowed to check upon your things and you should be prepared for a possibility there might not be anything salvageable.’ She actually put a hand on his forearm in means to comfort him.

Although Tobirama hated physical contact with other people and strangers even more so, he was grateful for someone keeping him anchored to reality.

‘I thought as much.’ He said quietly, his previous headache getting almost unbearable. He had to pinch the bridge of his nose and shake his head a little to try and get rid of the feeling of dizziness.

‘Can I do anything else for you? Do you want me to call someone?’ Officer Diaz squeezed his forearm gently.

‘No, you’re very kind, thank you. But I can make some phone calls myself, I think.’ Tobirama tried to reassure her with a weak smile but he must have failed miserably as she was regarding him for a long moment before she nodded.

‘Very well. I’ll leave you to it then. If you need anything, I’ll be nearby or ask any of my colleagues, okay?’ She stood up and patted his shoulder. Tobirama nodded and at last, he was left alone.

For a long while, he kept pondering who to call. At this moment, he really regretted his decision to keep to himself and not befriend anyone here. Things might have been easier.

He could always call his family. But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want to inconvenient Hashirama, who would probably jump straight into his car in his pyjamas and ride here to fetch him. His other brothers wouldn’t probably be much of help, plus they still  lived in their parents’ house. And that would mean their father would know, which was a big no no. The less he knew about him the better.

At last, he remembered a conversation he had with Hashirama a while ago. He mentioned Uchiha Madara was living in the same city, working for the police at that. Hashirama kept insisting they should get in touch and Tobirama kept refusing him.

He didn’t have any particularly fond memories of Madara before his family moved out of the town. But that was what, thirteen years ago? And Hashirama kept waxing poetic about him. Maybe he could at least give him some sort of advice.

Tobirama noticed officer Diaz eyeing him with concern from across the street. She probably thought he didn’t have anyone to call or would go and check up on him again. He sure felt gratitude towards her, she had been nothing but gentle and sweet to him but he wasn’t sure he could take any more pity and not have a complete meltdown.

At last, he fished out his phone and searched through the conversation with his brother to find the phone number he gave him. He clicked on the number and a question popped up on his screen.

_ Do you want to dial this number? _

Tobirama took a deep breath, clicked on the green handset icon. Nothing but a dialing tone for a long while, then voicemail.

‘Dammit.’ He cursed to himself. What was he thinking? Madara was probably asleep. Or maybe he didn’t have the right number? He decided to try once more. This time, an agitated voice yelled at him from the receiver. It really was Uchiha Madara. And after a short conversation, he agreed to help him. Tobirama was ordered to stay where he was and wait for him.

Only when the call ended the reality sank in. He would actually see Uchiha Madara again in a short while. Good heavens.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor boy. Idk if I got all the terms right and procedures realistic. Thank heavens I never experienced a house fire. At the same time, I don't care that much anyway, I write what I want, lol. Defo let me know if there's some bullshit tho.
> 
> See you at the next episode - our main protagonists meeting at last.


	3. A Knight in (not so) shiny armour

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't bother much with editing, so... Yeah. :D

Madara pulled over not so far from the police tape someone put up to hold curious onlookers in a safe distance from the fire. He took the keys out of the ignition and hopped off his black dodge charger. Having a pretty nice car came with his promotion to detective, one of the few benefits.

St Johns Ridge, currently painted in orange and red, wasn’t located in the safest district of the city but it wasn’t a complete shithole either. The scene presented to him was pretty grim. It seemed like the fire unit was finally getting the hang of the flames but they were still hours away from getting them extinguished completely. He marched straight to the tape and lifted it above his head to get to the area restricted for civilians.

‘Hey, sir! You can’t do that, get back behind the line!’ One of the nearby officers spotted him and started jogging in his direction.

‘It’s okay, officer. I’m pretty sure I can.’ Madara arched his brow and showed him his badge he had clipped on his belt. For a good measure, he even fished his ID from the breast pocket.

‘Oh. Detective. I had no idea someone called the RHD*. We’re not even sure there are any victims yet.’ The officer’s eyes widened in horror as he craned his neck to look over Madara’s shoulder. He probably didn’t fancy having to explain a full squad of grumpy forensics there had been a mistake and they were, in fact, called here for nothing.

‘Calm down. I’m off duty at the moment. As far as I know, no one called the homicide team here.’ Madara chuckled.

‘Gosh, that’s a relief.’ The officer deflated for a moment. ‘But then, what brought you here at this time of the night? Saw this disaster in the news and wanted to see for yourself?’ He inquired.

‘Nope. I got a call from someone I know. One of the tenants as I understand.’ Madara explained and the officer nodded in understanding.

‘Male, light hair, about 25?’ Madara depicted Tobirama shortly. The officer frowned as he was trying to recall someone fitting the description. ‘He should be really pale.’ Madara tried to help him.

‘Ah, yeah. I did see a man who was as white as a ghost. Diaz was looking after him, she took him to her car.’ The officer’s face lit up with recognition and he pointed out in the direction of police and paramedics vehicles.

‘Thank you, officer.’ Madara nodded and spared him a small smile before he headed there.

He narrowed his eyes as he was scanning the perimeter while getting closer and he recognized Tobirama between the clutter of people. He was sitting in a car trunk, huddled in a blanket one of the paramedics must have given him. He was tapping his foot furiously, staring in front of himself blankly and overall looking disheartened. Something tugged at his heart as he watched him, he reminded Madara of a lost puppy.

As he approached him, Madara suddenly found himself out of words. How the hell should he greet him? As a stranger or as an acquaintance? Should he address the phone call? Or would he just let Tobirama speak first?

With this inner turmoil going on, Madara halted in front of him and shoved his hands into his pockets. It took Tobirama a few seconds to register that someone crossed his line of vision but then he jumped slightly and his eyes jerked towards the intruder’s face.

‘Oh. Hi.’ Tobirama said simply. He probably tried to sound at least a bit cheerful but he failed miserably at that. Madara suppressed a wince.

‘Hey. Sorry to keep you waiting. I didn’t take too long, did I?’ Madara tilted his head.

‘No, it’s ok. Honestly, I don’t even know how long I’ve been here.’ Tobirama shrugged. Or at least Madara concluded he did under the blanket.

‘How are you feeling?’ Madara blurted out without thinking. Tobirama looked at him like he just grew a second head and then snorted humourlessly.

‘On the verge of having a panic attack.’ He admitted and tightened the blanket around himself self-consciously.

‘Understandable. Well, let’s get you out of here, shall we?’ Madara extended his hand for him. Tobirama frowned at his palm suspiciously. At that moment, a policewoman joined them. She scanned Madara from head to toe keenly and turned to Tobirama.

‘Mr Senju, I see you got yourself a saviour then. I’m glad someone came to collect you, I was half-inclined giving you refuge myself. I always had a soft spot for strays.’ She grinned at Tobirama.

‘You’re too kind, officer Diaz.’ Tobirama mumbled and it almost seemed to Madara he wanted to shrink into the blanket completely.

‘Detective. My colleague informed me you arrived for your friend here. I trust he’s in safe hands then.’

Madara jerked his eyes away from studying Tobirama and focused on the officer as she was clearly addressing him.

‘Yeah, well I’m no knight in shining armour but I can take him off your hands now, don’t worry.’ He replied in a similar manner and winked. She giggled. Tobirama continued to pretend he wasn’t even here, face buried in the blanket up to his nose.

‘Well, take good care of him then, detective. We already filled the paperwork and the department will contact Mr Senju when we have any news. I’ll personally see to it.’ Officer Diaz said, mostly for Tobirama's benefit. 

'Stay assured officer, not a hair will be misplaced on his silver head.' Madara quipped, making her laugh.

'You better make sure of that.' She wagged her finger at Madara playfully, said her goodbyes to Tobirama and left them to their own devices. He watched her go, then regarded the burning building. The sight gave him willies when he imagined it was his own apartment.

‘Come on, let’s go someplace calmer.’ He turned back to Tobirama who quickly averted his eyes, looking flustered. He must have been staring at him before Madara caught him. He smirked to himself.

Tobirama seemed reluctant to peel himself off the car trunk but with a bit of ushering Madara managed to coax him into following him. He put his hand on Tobirama’s back to gently steer him desired way and pulled the police tape up for him so he wouldn’t have to duck too low.

‘The blanket…’ Tobirama remembered when they reached the car and tugged at the fabric for good measure.

‘Just keep it. No one’s gonna be mad at you, the paramedics will just get themselves a new one from the hospital storage.’ Madara rolled his eyes lightly.

‘But…’ Tobirama looked back at the ambulance.

‘Do you know how many of these blankets they throw out because they get contaminated with blood and other bodily liquids? It’s fine, honest to word.’ Madara reassured him and waved him towards the passenger door he opened for him. Tobirama finally believed his reasoning and shuffled towards him.

‘Alright, in you go.’ Madara winked at him and chuckled when he got a confused blink in response. To say Tobirama was a little awkward was an understatement but it was kind of endearing in a weird way.

He rounded the car, seated himself and finally drove off, leaving the site of apocalypse behind them. Tobirama next to him was suspiciously quiet but he felt his stare on himself. When he turned to him, Tobirama’s eyes were indeed glued to him. He lifted his brows, silently asking if anything was wrong.

‘You grew out your hair.’ Tobirama remarked. Madara expected anything but this took him aback. It was true he used to wear his hair shorter. It took him a while to discover they were actually tameable if they were longer.

‘I suppose I did.’ He conceded and smiled at him. Tobirama nodded to himself contently. It must have been bothering him for some reason and he had to reassure himself he remembered it right.

‘Where are we going?’ Apparently emboldened, Tobirama voiced a question Madara expected in the first place.

‘I’m taking you to my home.’ He answered truthfully. It was pointless riding him to a hotel. It was too late and it would cost too much. Plus, Madara wanted to keep an eye on him. Tobirama didn’t look like he was in a state he could leave him alone with a clear conscience.

‘You don’t have to, I can find a hotel or something!’ Tobirama immediately opposed, just as Madara predicted, but he was having none of it.

‘Nonsense. You’re coming with me. I insist.’ Madara moved his palm from the gear shift to Tobirama’s hand to reassure him of his good intentions. Tobirama’s eyes flew wide at the contact. He quickly relinquished the hold of his hand, sensing it had the exact opposite effect, that is, freaking Tobirama out.

Silence reigned in the car after that, filled only with faint noise of the radio. Tobirama was staring at his hands, picking at the blanket absentmindedly, lips pressed together. Madara suppressed a sigh. This wasn’t very good, was it?

The awkwardness was suddenly broken by a loud noise of hunger coming from the passenger seat. Madara chuckled as Tobirama sunk lower to his seat, most likely trying to melt into it while his face took an interesting shade of red.

‘Hungry? We can grab something on the way if you want to.’ Madara suggested, trying to sound as casual as possible.

Tobirama seemed to be mulling the proposition over, chewing on his lower lip, before he finally agreed with a sheepish  _ ‘okay’ _ .

He pulled towards McDonalds drive-thru and ordered a milkshake for himself and a Big Mac menu for Tobirama. He just picked the menu himself, admittedly, he didn’t really trust they would get anywhere should he leave it up to Tobirama. The Senju didn’t complain though so he just placed the wrapped food into his lap and drove towards his home.

‘Thank you.’ Tobirama accepted it and held onto it tightly.

‘You can eat it now, you know. I won’t bite your head off because of a few crumbles.’ Madara smirked at him and sipped on his milkshake. He grimaced at the paper straw, which he despised. The taste was just kind of disgusting. Tobirama eyed him for a moment, then the package.

‘Oh for god’s sake, eat the damn burger, I know you’re starving. It will make you feel better.’ Madara ordered, trying not to sound too annoyed or patronising. Tobirama shrank a little at the voice tone and hastily opened the paper bag to retrieve the fries. He shoved a few of them into his mouth. Chewing on the fries, he gradually seemed to calm down a bit. Madara smirked to himself, feeling accomplished.

They were standing on the red lights when Tobirama nudged him lightly and waved the paper package, half-empty already, in front of him.

‘You want some?’ He peered at him hesitantly.

‘Sure, why not. Thanks.’ Madara took a few and popped them into his mouth. He was glad Tobirama was apparently doing better now that he was fed. His grandma always said that happiness rarely kept company with an empty stomach.

Finally, they got to his apartment complex and he pulled into the parking lot. ‘This is our final destination.’ Madara announced cheerfully and watched Tobirama unbuckle the seatbelt and get out of the car by himself. He concluded Tobirama probably wouldn’t appreciate being pampered now that he shook the worst of his shock off.

‘Follow me, if you might.’ Madara said loudly, walking away and locking the car from the distance. Tobirama caught up on him in a few moments, trotting after him obediently. The elevator was still on the ground floor so they just got in. They endured the brief trip up to the fifth floor while being crammed into the tight space pointedly avoiding any eye contact. At last, Madara opened the front door and motioned Tobirama in.

‘So this is where you live?’ Tobirama looked around curiously, taking in his surroundings.

‘Yup. Sorry about the mess. I wasn’t really expecting company…’ Madara rubbed the back of his neck, sporting an apologetic grin. He certainly wasn’t the tidiest person, which was just fine when it was only him, but now he actually felt a bit ashamed of himself.

‘Yeah. Well, I wasn’t expecting to be homeless out of blue so I think you’re fine.’ Tobirama countered sarcastically and flashed him a short smile before he hastily looked away. That must have been the longest sentence he said so far. Madara cursed the flutter inside his stomach upon that and the fact that he smiled.

‘True. You won’t mind taking the couch for now, will you? I have a spare room where Izuna used to live when we shared the apartment but I kinda turned it into a storage so… We’ll deal with that later.’ Madara disappeared in said room to rummage through the bags to find a pillow and a thicker blanket for him.

Tobirama was still standing where he left him when he deposited the pile of bedding on the couch and removed the empty pizza box he previously left there. He had shed the blanket from paramedics though so Madara could properly examine him for the first time. He was on the thinner side to be honest but his body was built well. Madara wouldn’t mind to get a closer look at what was under the clothes. He screwed his eyes shut and mentally berated himself for such thoughts.

‘Here you go. Bathroom is over there, take anything from the kitchen if you want to.’ He turned back to Tobirama, both of them now hovering kind of awkwardly.

‘You’re entirely too kind, Madara. I don’t know how to thank you.’ Tobirama finally said. His voice was soft so Madara knew he was sincere with his gratitude.

‘Don’t mention it. Gods know I need to improve my karma.’ Madara shrugged, trying to appear all cool and suave.

‘No, really. It means a world to me.’ Tobirama insisted. Madara felt his cheeks heat at that.

‘I’ll let you settle down and find you something to change into, what do you say.’ He said quickly and willed himself not to look like he was running away when he ducked into his bedroom. He rummaged through the closet and found a pair of shorts and a fresh t-shirt he wasn’t wearing too often. Tobirama was just a little taller than him so he concluded most of his clothes should fit him pretty well.

He returned to the living room to find Tobirama sitting on the couch, arranging the bedding. He deposited the clothes on the backrest for him and went to get them both a glass of water, mostly to occupy himself somehow while Tobirama changed.

‘Aren’t you going to ask any questions?’ Tobirama’s curious voice travelled from the living room.

‘No.’ Madara simply shook his head when he returned to him and handed him the full glass which he gladly accepted. Tobirama seemed puzzled by that so he decided to elaborate.

‘It’s damn late and I think we can both agree we sorely need to catch some sleep. I figured we could postpone this for tomorrow morning. I have an afternoon shift and as for your work, I’m sure they can make an exception for you if you explain what happened.’

‘Can’t reason with that.’ Tobirama inclined his head and smiled to himself. Again, Madara felt the treacherous butterflies and trying to drown them by downing the whole glass of water didn’t much help his ordeal.

‘Wise. You will find soon enough for yourself that trying to reason with me is no small feat.’ Madara quipped just to try and elicit the smile once more. He grinned when Tobirama chuckled quietly.

‘Good night then. If you need anything, I’ll be in there. But be warned, I’m not the most pleasant person when woken up.’ Madara joked again and sauntered towards his bedroom door.

‘I gathered as much. Good night. And thanks again.’ Tobirama yawned, already snuggled under the blanket. He was definitely pretty cute.

Madara took in the last sight of him before he turned off the lights and shut the door behind himself. He shed the clothes and shuffled under his duvet, feeling completely drained out. The alarm clock read almost 3:30 AM. He fell asleep quickly, looking forward to spending the morning with his new unexpected guest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *RHD as in Robbery-Homicide Division
> 
> Yay, they finally met and Madara is already smitten! How do you feel about it?


	4. Safe & Sound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title of the chapter is taken from the song by Taylor Swift as the lyrics kinda fit, I think.

Tobirama woke up in an unfamiliar setting. It took him a few seconds to adjust his eyes to the amount of light pouring into the room. He never forgot to draw the curtains before bed. But this wasn’t his place and his bed, was it? It was Madara’s living room.

Shifting to lie on his back, Tobirama groaned quietly and covered his eyes with his forearm. His back hurt a little from the awkward position on the couch but it was nothing compared to the emotions he felt as the events of the previous night came back to him. All of the regret he felt for losing most of his belongings aside, he was ashamed of himself, mostly for having a meltdown and calling Madara for help. It was so embarrassing! He was so out of it Madara had to practically manhandle him to get him here. 

Although, as the more rational part of his brain tried to oppose, it was kind of understandable he was in such a state. After all, you don’t lose your home on a daily basis. Well, as a matter of fact, Tobirama kind of did lose home twice in previous months but that was neither here nor there. And the first one was at least still standing.

What kept eluding Tobirama was Madara’s motivation to even consider helping him. The Uchiha hadn’t even heard of him for years and yet he picked him up in the middle of the night, fed him and offered refuge just like that. Without much fuss about it. 

Come to think about it, the reason was probably Hashirama and the loyalty he felt towards him. It was the most sensible explanation. Why else would he care for someone who was practically a stranger to him? Sheer kindness of heart? Be it as may, Madara offered him help in a time of great need and for that Tobirama would be forever grateful.

He had to take any possible measures to relieve Madara of this obligation he probably felt and get back on his feet as soon as possible. He couldn’t overstay his welcome, it was bad enough Madara insisted on bringing him here instead of checking him in to some hotel. 

That meant there was another round of apartment hunting ahead of him, this time amplified even more by the fact that he practically had nothing and he had to buy a lot of stuff including basic things like clothing. Positively dreadful prospects. One good thing was that Tobirama was always rather frugal when it came to his expenses so he had a good amount of money saved for emergencies like this one.

Speaking of money, he remembered he should probably call the provider of his income or at least send a message. It was a wonder no one from work was looking for him yet, he usually showed up pretty early in the morning due to his trouble with sleep and the clock on Madara’s wall read it was almost 7:45 already. 

It took a while of pondering and weighing options and in the end, Tobirama settled for a message to his boss. He loathed making phone calls. Giselle replied pretty much right away, conveying how sorry she was for him and gave him as many days of home office as he needed to get things sorted. Which, as they both knew, meant he had to work like two hours a day at max on data processing she would send, considering most of his work was done manually in the lab. The woman was a miracle. Then again, she really wanted Tobirama into her team and constantly tried to reassure him she valued his asset. At least with work he had some luck when everything else seemed to be falling apart.

After that his stomach reminded him loudly it was well past his usual breakfast time. He decided he could start with repaying the favour he owed to Madara right away and make them both breakfast. Quietly, as not to wake his host up, Tobirama untangled himself from the blanket and tiptoed into the kitchen. It felt a little intrusive to snoop around without Madara being present but he did give him permission to do whatever, right?

Upon further inspection, Tobirama found Madara’s fridge pretty well stocked. He decided for a classic, scrambled eggs with bacon and some toasted bread. He liked that the kitchen had a pretty intuitive layout and he didn’t have to search for a pan and utensils for too long. From that he drew a conclusion that Madara had to be pretty apt in cooking if he bothered to plan and stock his kitchen so nicely. He made a mental point to remember this as a possible conversation topic.

He was just stuffing the bread into the toaster and scrambling the eggs with his other hand when he heard a quiet chuckle behind himself, which almost made him jump out of his skin. 

‘Jesus fucking Christ, you almost gave me a heart attack!’ Tobirama clutched at his chest, looking at Madara accusatively. Madara on the other hand didn’t look like he was even remotely sorry to startle him.

‘I see my unexpected guest has already made himself at home.’ He was leaning in the doorway, lips curled upwards in amusement. His hair was tousled and once more Tobirama marvelled at the length of it. It suited him. He quickly scanned Madara’s face for any signs of displeasure upon having his kitchen invaded but there were none. Still, Tobirama felt the obligation to explain himself.

‘Umm, I hope you don’t mind. I thought making breakfast was the least I could do to repay the huge favour I’m owing you. And you said I could get anything so I thought you wouldn’t be mad and…’ Tobirama suddenly couldn’t stop the word vomit coming out of his anxiety riddled mind.

‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm yourself down, of course I don’t mind. As a matter of fact, I could easily get used to waking up to the smell of bacon. And finding a handsome man in my kitchen is also hardly something to complain about.’ Madara winked at him charmingly. Tobirama blinked at him dumbly several times, effectively rendered silent.

Was he hitting on him? But that would have to mean that Madara was also... No, it couldn’t be his luck, could it? The very man - or back at that time a boy - practically responsible for Tobirama’s gay awakening was gay as well? It only ever occurred to Tobirama in his wildest dreams and now the possibility practically blew his mind.

‘Hello? The Earth calls to Tobirama, do you read me?’ Madara snapped his fingers in front of Tobirama’s face. He was looking slightly concerned.

‘Yeah, sorry. I got caught up in my thoughts.’ Tobirama ducked his head lower and clamped his attention towards the momentarily forgotten eggs, shoving at them aimlessly. It didn’t seem like Madara was satisfied with this explanation but he didn’t press the matter any further.

‘Does that happen often?’ Madara asked instead while he rummaged through the fridge to retrieve a carton of orange juice. 

Tobirama snorted. If only he knew. ‘I probably do have some inclinations for daydreaming.’ He admitted. 

Although _inclination_ was quite an understatement. Blame the ADHD. Speaking of that, he should definitely take his meds. Good thing he always kept them in his bag so at least his medical therapy wouldn’t get messed up completely as it would if he left the pills at now nonexistent home. His therapist was probably going to be none too happy once he told her everything that unfolded in the last 24 hours.

‘Yeah, the eggs are a clear victim of that. Allow me.’ Madara chuckled and wrangled the spatula out of Tobirama’s hand to stir up the eggs, slightly burning to the pan at some places. He had to lean over Tobirama if he didn’t want to shove him out of the way and the close proximity made Tobirama freeze. 

‘I think we can safely declare them done.’ Madara announced, turned off the heat and stepped away to fetch clean plates as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Tobirama felt simultaneously substantial relief and a subtle pang of regret, which confounded him greatly. He usually detested anyone crossing the borders of his personal bubble.

Crunchy bread jumping out of the toaster suddenly interrupted his line of thoughts again as it startled him. He almost forgot about the toasts. 

‘You seem a little jumpy, huh?’ Madara commented, giving him an assessive side-eye.

‘Uhm. Sorry about that. I should have taken my meds about two hours ago.’ Tobirama mumbled. As Madara’s face changed expressions from surprised to concerned, he felt his cheeks flaming. Even after all these years he was still ashamed to admit he still most of the time had to rely on pills to have a solid grip on himself. 

‘You’re taking medication? What for?’ Madara turned his whole attention to him, looking curious and suspicious at the same time. 

Tobirama hesitated. He always took his medical condition as a private matter and he was reluctant to admit there was something wrong with him to people who weren’t a close family. But at the same time, it felt right to tell his host what was going on with him.

Madara must have realized the impolicy of his question because he dropped his scrutinizing gaze and turned back to the food on the stove to deposit it onto the plates.

‘I’m sorry, it’s in my nature to interrogate. It’s none of my business.’ 

His voice was carefully neutral. Tobirama winced internally. He really should just get over himself and tell him. There were plenty of people with the same diagnosis and he shouldn’t be ashamed of himself. Or at least that was what his therapist insisted on.

‘I take Concerta for ADHD and Prozac for comorbid anxiety.’ Tobirama shuffled his feet nervously. He couldn’t will himself to look any higher than at Madara’s chest.

‘Oh. That explains a lot. Although, I’ve lived under the impression that ADHD was more of a kids’ problem?’ A plate appeared in Tobirama’s line of vision and he automatically accepted it.

‘Unfortunately no. I wish I could just grow out of it.’ Tobirama sighed and followed Madara towards the table. 

‘Well, we all do what we must to survive. You should go and take your pills now.’ Madara graced him with a supportive smile. It came to Tobirama as a surprise because he anticipated a much worse reaction. His own father took him as a freak and yet here was a man who barely knew him but still accepted his biggest flaw without giving it a second thought.

He just nodded silently and made a short trip to the living room where his backpack was to retrieve the tiny bottles out of it. Upon his return, a glass of juice was waiting for him beside the plate. Madara was already eating and he didn’t say anything. But Tobirama noticed he did watch him with mild curiosity as he sipped on the juice to swallow the pills.

‘So. What are your plans for now?’ The dark-haired man finally broke the silence after a while of content munching. 

Tobirama swallowed the mouthful of eggs perhaps a bit harder than he wanted. He was thinking about anything and everything and the question brought him back to the dreadful reality. He was asking when he would finally disappear, wasn’t he? Of course Madara didn’t want him around, he helped him out of obligation and now wanted to be rid of him.

‘Don’t worry, I won’t bother you much longer. I’ll find a hotel today and then try to find something to rent.’ He replied hastily. Madara’s brows knit together at that.

‘What is it with you and hotel rooms? I thought we already established you’re staying here. I will only need your help to clean up the spare room so you won’t have to sleep on the couch again. My back would be screaming if I were you.’ He waved around the fork with a piece of bacon impaled on it.

‘No, please. I can’t possibly...’ Tobirama pleaded with him, only to be interrupted.

‘Do you hate my presence so much you really need to run off as soon as possible?’ Madara dropped the fork, frowning. Was it hurt that Tobirama identified in his voice?

‘No! It’s not that, not at all!’ He said hurriedly. 

‘Well, I can’t see why you couldn’t stay then.’ Madara crossed his arms, looking dejected.

‘Because you already did more than half of my own family probably would! I couldn’t possibly be any more of an inconvenience than I am now.’ Tobirama shouted. He immediately regretted raising his voice. An uncomfortable silence reigned the room.

After a moment of staring at him, Madara ran a hand across his face and sighed. When he spoke again, his voice was calm and collected once more. 

‘Look, I don’t pretend to know your circumstances and I’m sorry if your own family would rather leave you homeless. To me, you’re not a burden, you’re a person in need and I won’t kick you out when I have an empty room at disposal. So why can’t you stop being obstinate and accept some help?’

Tobirama was speechless. He knew Madara meant what he said because his features were full of sincerity and compassion. It was almost overwhelming to realize someone cared about him even without having a proper knowledge of him. He opened his mouth several times but couldn’t find his voice, his throat was tightened so much. He had to look like a gaping fish but Madara was nice enough not to comment on that.

‘You’re too kind.’ He finally managed to whisper, feeling the danger of tears pricking at the corners of his eyes.

‘Don’t mention it. I take this matter as settled.’ Madara waved his hand laconically, pretending he didn’t see him practically weeping. Instead, he returned to his food, giving Tobirama space to collect himself. Tobirama felt another wave of gratitude for that even though he didn’t know it was possible. He followed the suit after a moment. The eggs were already cold.

‘One thing I don’t understand. Why? What do _you_ gain out of helping me?’ Tobirama had to voice the most burning question. He just couldn’t comprehend the generosity of the Uchiha.

‘Company.’ Madara shrugged simply. 

Tobirama just nodded as they shared a look of understanding. He didn’t want to be alone. Tobirama wasn’t sure he was the best of companions, rather on the contrary. He always used to be more of a lone wolf. But he made up his mind he would try his best. In the end, Madara already treated him better than most. He felt a tingle of excitement upon the prospect of getting to know him better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, Christmas was a bit hectic. It's kinda short but it has enough emotions as it is, hehe. Next one will again probably be Madara's POV.
> 
> Also, thanks for all the lovely comments left! <3


	5. Let your tears fall

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is ofc another song, this one by Kelly Clarkson. Lyrics fit perfectly, you can check it out.

Another tiring day of work was behind him and Madara was finally heading home. He left the flat around 2:15 PM as his shift started at 3:00 and he wanted to run a few errands before work. Before that, he and Tobirama spent much of the morning going through boxes of unused stuff, from unpacked books and clothes to some pieces of spare furniture which they kept in the room. 

It wasn’t looking very fancy at the moment, walls could use repainting, furniture was mismatched and the creaky bed would soon need replacement but still it was better than nothing and Tobirama kept thanking him all over again. He seemed a little anxious when he left him alone in the apartment, like he still couldn’t believe Madara would let him stay.

The shift itself was pretty uneventful, mostly reviewing the previous case evidence for the upcoming trial, but in his line of work that was definitely a positive thing. A day without any new dead bodies was a good day.

Uncharacteristically for him, he had a pretty good mood for such a late hour of the night. Usually he just dragged himself home, more often than not skipped a very late dinner, took a shower and fell to bed but today he even caught himself whistling a merry tune as he locked his dodge and headed for the entrance of the apartment complex. 

Maybe it was because after a long while he had someone to come back home again? Not that he expected Tobirama would stay up this late just to wait for him. He’d probably be sleeping as any other sensible person with normal sleeping habits would. As he stepped out of the elevator and dug in his pocket for the keys, he stopped whistling. He didn’t want to wake him up.

To his surprise, there was light on in the living room when he entered. Maybe Tobirama forgot to turn it off? As quietly as possible, he took off his shoes and jacket, put the keys on the key holder and ventured further into the flat to find Tobirama sitting on the couch cross-legged, dressed in one of his shirts which was a little loose on him, laptop on his lap and headphones plugged in his ears. He was sitting with his back to him which immediately gave Madara a wicked idea.

Grinning to himself impishly, he tiptoed towards the couch and put his palms over Tobirama’s eyes. The other man, as predicted, released a startled yelp and almost threw the laptop off his lap at that. Immediately he tore the headphones off his ears and went for Madara’s hands.

‘Guess who?’ Madara singsonged, childishly happy he managed to startle him.

‘Not funny Madara, I might have had a cardiac arrest, you dumbass! A second one since this very morning, might I add! Damn, you are a sneaky bastard for sure!’ Tobirama kept cursing and finally Madara allowed him to drag his palms down off his beautiful eyes. All the while Tobirama wasn’t letting go though, distracted by the flow of profanities he kept clutching at Madara’s hands, effectively tugging him to bend lower over the backrest. 

He must have realized his mistake when Madara, now positioned almost perfectly to whisper in his ear, laughed out loud as Tobirama’s hair tickled him on the cheek. Just like in the morning, Tobirama momentarily froze at close contact. 

‘My, my, what a foul language! Maybe I am sneaky but if I was a murderer, I could smash your skull from behind just like that. You wouldn’t even know what hit you.’ 

‘That’s morbid. Are you plotting to murder me? And there I was hoping you weren't insane. Also, if an ordinary murderer snuck upon me, he would just go BAM and that would be it, I’d be dead and done for. He wouldn’t repeatedly make me jump out of my skin. Therefore, you are the worst. And you deserve to be called a sneaky bastard.’ Tobirama turned his head ever so slightly so he could scorche Madara with his glare.

Now, they were in a perfect position to kiss. Not that Madara would do that just now. Even his bravado wasn’t that big. He must have been staring at Tobirama’s lips without saying anything for longer than he thought because the owner of those aforementioned lips reddened considerably and cleared his throat. Still he didn’t relinquish his hold on Madara’s hands, which was puzzling and stomach-butterflies-stirring at the same time.

‘Perhaps. But this sneaky bastard didn’t make you wait for him to return home till midnight just so he could play a little prank on you. I could have been held up late.’ He pointed out with a pleased smirk.

‘Stop flattering yourself, I will have you known I wasn’t waiting like a puppy dog for its master’s return. I have trouble sleeping because of the pills so I often stay up late. Also, if I might have gotten caught up with myself again and lost track of the time, that’s neither here nor there. You can very well saunter to your bedroom and stop pestering me.’ Tobirama puffed up and finally let go of him to cross his arms. His denial was adorable. And Madara was quickly becoming endeared to the amount of sass.

‘Alright, I get it. Alas, no one here desires my presence. And to think I had some news for you!’ Madara waved his hands theatrically and turned around to make for the door.

‘Wait! What news?’ Tobirama perked up curiously.

‘It’s nothing.’ Madara shrugged in very obviously feigned indifference.

‘Come on, where are you going?’ Tobirama put the laptop down.

‘To sulk in my room of course, where your kingship banished me not a minute ago.’ Madara reminded as if Tobirama was a little dumb, which made the Senju roll his eyes.

‘Fine. I revoke my banishment. Are you gonna tell me now?’ He pleaded. Madara pretended to be thinking for a few seconds to keep the suspense.

‘Nope.’ He eventually shook his head.

‘Oh you want me to beg?’ Tobirama threw at him an annoyed look.

‘You have no idea.’ Madara winked mischievously. Making Tobirama flustered by stupid innuendos was something he really enjoyed.

‘Shut up…’ Tobirama grumbled with a frown, cheeks aflame once more.

‘Okay.’ Madara grinned and turned the doorknob to his bedroom. He heard Tobirama huff impatiently.

‘Fine, I’m sorry for being mean. Mister detective was right, I was kind of waiting for you to return. You promised you would ask around. Will you sit down now?’ Tobirama blurted out, slightly irritated Madara made him say it.

‘Apology accepted.’ Madara nodded graciously and made a few steps to sit down where Tobirama patted the couch. The other man was looking at him expectantly and writhing his hands together, awaiting the news.

‘So. As I promised earlier, I made a few phone calls. Your house indeed started burning from the apartment above yours. From the testimony the woman gave, her partner returned drunk again, beaten her up and she locked herself in the bathroom. It’s unclear what really started the fire as the floor slash ceiling of your apartment caved in. But she believes he probably fell asleep with his cigarette lit and the ash caught up on the opened bottle of liquor he must have dropped and spilled.’ Madara told him what a friend from another police department told him.

‘What an absolute asshole!’ Tobirama cursed. Madara hummed in agreement.

‘As soon as the smell of smoke got to the bathroom, she ran out and saw what happened, called 911 and tried to wake him up but he probably inhaled the smoke already. After all, he was very close to the source of fire. She then alarmed the neighbour and they managed to drag him out. Luckily, there were no victims.’ 

‘That’s at least some good news. What will happen to him now?’ Tobirama was visibly disgusted by the man just as much as Madara was.

‘He’s currently in the hospital with some second and third degree burns and likely carbon monoxide poisoning. Detective on this case convinced the woman to finally press charges against him and he’ll be charged for arson as well until proven he didn’t intentionally start the fire. Maybe some property damage but that would depend on the landlord.’ Madara finished.

‘Yeah, also.’ He remembered. ‘My colleague said you said one of the officers this abuse was going on for a long time and you even called the police on them. You should be aware they might want your testimony in the court.’

‘Oh. Okay. I hope he rots in hell.’ Tobirama gritted his teeth with venom in his voice.

‘That makes two of us. Anyway, we hadn’t discussed it yet but did you get a renter’s insurance before you moved into your old apartment?’

‘Uh-huh. It seemed like a sensible idea.’ Tobirama nodded and Madara felt instantly relieved for him.

‘Great, you should notify your insurance company first thing tomorrow then.’

‘I will. Do you know when it will be possible to enter the building?’ Tobirama peered at him hopefully.

‘No. And my friend said there probably won’t be much to salvage anyway. As I said, the ceiling caved in and water probably damaged the rest.’ Madara grimaced, anticipating a bad reaction. Tobirama nodded in grim acceptance.

‘Yes, I’m slowly coming to terms with that. There’s only one thing I really need to retrieve, there should be a safety box that was hidden under my bed. It said it should withstand some degree of burn or water when I bought it. I stored my birth certificate, passport and other documents in there.’ 

‘That was very smart.’ Madara praised. He was really impressed with Tobirama’s level of cautiousness. ‘I’ll ask around if anyone could look around and possibly retrieve it.’ He assured him. 

‘Thank you.’ Tobirama said for an umpteenth time that day.

‘On a brighter note, I’ve got something for you.’ Madara announced, trying to lift his spirits a little.

‘Oh?’ Tobirama shifted his gaze from his own lap to him.  Madara had to lift himself a little to fish it out of his back pocket.

‘I made you copies of the keys so you’re not condemned to staying in the flat anymore when I’m at work. You really should not feel like a prisoner here.’ He rattled the three keys on a keyring in front of Tobirama’s face.

Tobirama’s eyes widened at that and suddenly went all glassy again. Poor emotional thing. The overwhelming feeling of protectiveness towards him Madara felt when he saw him for the first time only kept multiplying with each gesture of gratitude for anything he did for him. 

‘Here you go… Ooof!’ Madara reached out to give the keys to him, only to be almost knocked back by the impact of Tobirama’s body launching onto him to hug him fiercely. His heart skipped a few beats before his brain caught up and reciprocated just as strongly.

‘There there, you didn’t think I would change my mind, did you?’ Madara patted his back gently. The answering sob from somewhere in his hair pretty much said it all. 

‘Hush now, it’s gonna be alright.’ He kept drawing soothing circles on Tobirama’s back, allowing the other man to let his feelings out freely. He was clutching at him like he was a lifeline, sobbing quietly into his hair and Madara didn’t mind a bit.

After a few long minutes of being locked like that Tobirama finally spilled all his tears and loosened his grip which notified Madara he should let go of him too. He did so only reluctantly and handed Tobirama a box of tissues from the coffee table. He grabbed it gratefully and turned around to compose himself.

‘Sorry about that.’ Tobirama mumbled after he wiped his face, looking anywhere but at Madara. He probably felt mortified by his actions which pained the Uchiha. He didn’t want him to feel guilty or ashamed for expressing himself freely. Whoever ingrained this into Tobirama’s brain deserved a punch in the face and from the sparse information about his family Madara previously got out of the Senju, he had an idea who the particular person was.

‘No, it’s fine. You needed this. You’re allowed to grieve and to feel sad for what happened to you. Don’t apologize for a natural reaction.’ Madara reached for his hand and squeezed it sincerely. Tobirama sniffed again and squeezed back. 

‘I think I’ll go to bed now.’ He eventually said. Madara nodded in agreement.

‘That’s an excellent idea.’ He stood up and tugged Tobirama off the couch as well before he let go of him and went for his bedroom. 

‘Good night.’ He said over his shoulder when he was already at his door.

‘You too, see you in the morning.’ Tobirama answered just before the door of his new bedroom closed behind him.

‘The morning can’t come any sooner then.’ Madara smiled to himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy" and so on. I know! But honestly, we all want them to just get on with it, don't we? I could drag this much longer as a slow burn but it won't serve anyone, lol. Also I wanted to keep this relatively short, a concept which steadily keeps evading me.
> 
> Thank you so much for all the comments! <3 Next chapter should probably be a little skip in time and another character will make an appearance. You can guess below who. ;)


	6. Holding on to you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter names taken from songs are writers' delight, that's universal truth, lol. This one is from a song by Twenty One Pilots.

It has been a little over a week since Tobirama moved in with Madara. First few days he still couldn’t believe what a blessing in disguise the whole fire accident was. Not that his old apartment was a complete shithole but Madara’s was certainly more spacious, lighter and prettier. Not to mention the neighbourhood was much safer and overall nicer.

They made a deal Tobirama would pay half of the rent (mainly because he insisted, not that Madara hadn’t tried to argue about that) which for him was actually less than he was paying for the old one bedroom apartment. He kept scrolling through renting websites, just to be safe if Madara changed his mind about having a flatmate, even though he kept repeating that would never be the case. But Tobirama was half convinced it was just a matter of time, no one was patient enough to suffer him around for very long. Either way, nothing particularly nice came up anyway so Madara was now stuck with him whether he wanted or not.

Madara himself only kept being nice to him, he seemed to genuinely enjoy having him around, which only made Tobirama wonder. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they bickered but always goodnaturedly. To his own immense surprise and confusion, he felt comfortable and welcome here.

It was like having another supportive brother if it wasn’t for the occasional innuendos that Madara used to throw him off. In these cases Tobirama wondered if there was more to it. Mainly when he was lying in his bed, willing his brain to cooperate and let him fall asleep, he kept pondering about the little moments between them. 

Madara was obviously a pretty tactile person. He often crossed the line of Tobirama’s personal space, he liked to sit close to him or even touch him from time to time. For Tobirama, who always disliked to be touched even by his family, it was incomprehensive at first, he couldn’t help but freeze in such situations. 

But soon, he discovered he actually didn’t mind. On the contrary, Tobirama began to crave these moments of closeness, especially since that one night everything that transpired finally became too much and he broke down and turned into a weeping puddle in Madara’s arms. With him by his side as an unwavering support, everything seemed better. Easier even. It confused him to no end.

He told all of this to his therapist. At first, she was horrified about the accident because she thought another big change in his life in such a short time would set them months back again when they finally made some progress. She reprimanded him for not notifying his family at all but then she became really excited when he mentioned Madara. Her grin kept only widening any time he said more about the Uchiha. At the end of the session she encouraged him to, quote _‘go with the flow’_ and try to lower his cautiousness a little around his new flatmate. Easier said than done.

He was still working from home as Giselle insisted someone else would do the lab work and he should sort his life first. But he knew this couldn’t drag for too long. He was way too unproductive without following his daily routine and he knew it. He had a tendency to procrastinate. Which was unavoidable with his attention span of a lightning bolt, especially if he happened to be in an environment with so many distractions. He could tune out most the distractions at work but being left unattended and on his own in the apartment? Nope. 

Just the other day Madara found him sitting on the couch, looking miserable. He, being his usual sweet self, naturally inquired what happened and Tobirama had to tell him he hadn’t had any work done for the past two days and he was afraid of getting fired for it. The problem was, he couldn’t force himself into doing it because there were several tasks to be done and he couldn’t decide which one he should do first and therefore naturally didn’t do any and instead spent the whole day watching videos while getting increasingly anxious. 

Madara blinked at him several times, clearly not getting what the issue was. Then he started laughing, told him to wait and disappeared in his room without any further explanation. When he returned, still chuckling at Tobirama’s admittedly silly self-induced misery, he asked Tobirama to open his palm and then gave him two objects. 

First one was an old beaten wooden die, one you usually use when playing board games. 

‘Eww, that’s a pretty filthy die. I feel like a cat owner who was just graced with a gift consisting of a dead half-eaten bird. What on Earth am I to do with it?’ Tobirama grimaced and held the die between his thumb and index finger to inspect it properly.

‘Well pardon me Your Grace, that’s the only die your humble servant is able to procure for you at the moment.’ Madara bowed in mock humility. Tobirama only pursed his lips in equally pretended annoyance at him.

‘Isn’t it obvious? You can’t pick for yourself so just let the dice do it for you. Number your tasks and roll it. Do whatever falls on the die. Repeat until everything’s done. Problem solved.’ Madara explained. 

‘Bullshit, this can’t possibly work.’ It was an incredibly, stupidly simple solution and being naturally sceptical, Tobirama didn’t believe it would help in any way. Something this trivial couldn’t fool his malfunctional monkey brain, could it?

‘Just try it, what more harm could it do? If I find you tomorrow when I come home casting the die over and over again like a maniac while your work keeps piling up, I’ll come up with some more drastic measures.’ Madara grinned wickedly. He probably meant it.

‘Fine, I’ll humour you. And the chapstick?’ Tobirama picked up the second offering.

‘Duh, for your lips of course. They are all red and raw. You tend to nibble and chew on them when you’re fretting about something.’ Madara shrugged. 

‘Uh. I can’t believe you noticed. Thanks.’ Tobirama mumbled, dumbfounded. He _knew_ Madara had to be observant, being a detective and whatnot, but it still kept astound him he could be an object of his close attention too. He was usually better off if no one paid heed to him. But this was different. Madara only used his observations to afford solutions, not to make fun of him or mock him.

In the end, he found use for both of Madara’s gifts. The chapstick considerably relieved the pain of his indeed overly bitten lips and while the suggestion to use a die looked foolish, it proved rather ingenious. He still kept getting distracted but he had at least _some_ of his tasks done which was something. This practical solution impressed even his therapist and she encouraged him to continue to use it whenever he felt his indecisiveness was getting in the way too much.

It was Saturday and they were having late lunch and watching some dumb show on TV when Madara’s phone went ringing. 

‘Damn. Dead body found. With Dorsey and Maldonado dealing with the one from two days ago and Reeves preparing for the court in two days, I have to take the case.’ Madara sighed when he read the message.

‘You just had an allnighter and didn’t catch much sleep. I thought you would stay at home tonight.’ Tobirama frowned. He didn’t like sudden changes of immediate future. Or changes of the future far off. Or changes in general.

‘Oh. Did you plan anything for us?’ Madara raised a brow curiously, giving him that crooked half-smirk he probably thought was charming. Maybe it kind of was. In its own obscurely ridiculous way.

‘No. I just thought we could continue the binge watch.’ Tobirama uttered, trying to sound as casual as possible. He started rewatching Game of Thrones out of boredom and Madara joined him around the third episode of the first season. He never watched the series before so it was exciting and amusing for Tobirama to watch Madara’s reactions to the plot twists.

‘That would certainly be more pleasant than another crime scene but it’s an emergency.’ Madara gave him an apologetic smile. Tobirama couldn’t really be mad at him. It was just his work. And from what Tobirama gathered, he had to work hard for the promotion.

‘I know, I know.’ He rolled his eyes and tried to reciprocate the smile as best as he could muster.

Madara ate the rest of lunch in a hurry, changed from the worn t-shirt to his perfectly ironed black shirt and nicely tailored suit and armed with his badge and gun left for work. He looked so serious in his detective attire. Like he meant business. It was impressive. And kind of sexy, if Tobirama had the courage to admit that.

Tobirama didn’t have much to do after that. He didn’t want to start watching without Madara but he also didn’t want to start another show. He tried to do some reading but couldn’t really focus on the words, they just kept eluding him. He kept getting to the bottom of the page only to find out his brain didn’t take in anything he just read and he was soon fed up of rereading the sentences all over again.

In the end he decided to go out for a walk. Clad in his newly bought sports shirt, shorts and trainers, he plucked his earphones in and played something upbeat. The weather was nice and the music instigated him to walk faster and faster and soon enough he found himself running. 

He hadn’t been running for a long while, which was atypical for him. He spent most of his childhood, teen and young adult years running. Not just figuratively from his numerous problems, but also literally. It was his father who insisted he was good enough to compete and kept pushing him harder and harder. It was also his father who finally made him snap when he pushed too far. He always pushed too far. His therapist had a theory it was an act of defiance when he stopped running altogether. Deep down Tobirama knew she was most likely right.

It was refreshing, feeling the blood pumping through his veins, lungs burning as they tried to keep up with his rapidly beating heart and supply the body with enough oxygen while his mind was blissfully empty, only focused on the workout. He found he was terribly out of shape when the side stitch appeared after only a few minutes of running at moderate pace. He endured another few minutes before he concluded that was more than enough exercise for one day and aimed for home. He walked out the rest several hundred meters to get his heartbeat back to normal and even took the stairs instead of the elevator this time. 

A shower was a must upon his return. They shared one bathroom together but since Madara wasn’t there and wouldn’t be for probably a long time, he took the liberty of standing under the pleasantly warm water current pouring out of the showerhead a little longer. 

He always liked water but he was only ever allowed to focus on one sport - running. Maybe he should look up if there was any public pool nearby and start swimming again? Perhaps Madara could be persuaded to join. That would be nice. Just for the competition of course. He certainly didn’t want to oggle over his almost naked body, no sir. That wasn’t his intention at all. Although now that thought crossed his mind it was near impossible to banish it.

He just got out of the bathroom wrapped in Madara’s bathrobe he shamelessly borrowed and he was brushing his wet hair with a towel when a wolf whistle startled him. There was an unexpected presence in the living room.

‘Hmm. I wasn’t expecting that. I was hoping it was Maddy taking so long in the bathroom.’ The person, a dark-haired man with a low ponytail, eyed him from head to toe as if he was appraising a cattle at the market. His surveying gaze made Tobirama feel very self-conscious.

‘What are you doing here? How did you get in?’ He managed to stutter out when he broke out of the initial stupor.

‘Just dropping something off, Madara told me he would be home yesterday. I have a spare key. Better question is, what are _you_ doing here?’ The other man scratched his chin.

‘I’m living here. What’s that to you?’ Tobirama tightened the bathrobe around himself defensively.

‘Just wondering why Madara didn’t bother to mention he found himself a beau. Not his usual type but damn, good choice, might I say.’ The other man grinned.

‘I think you got the wrong idea. We’re just flatmates.’ Tobirama hurried to clarify. He felt his cheeks burning. Who was this man anyway that he thought he could just wander in and question him?

‘Aaaalright, don’t get your panties in a twist. Any endeavours of you two are none of my business after all.’ He raised his hands in a placating manner but Tobirama could say that was all lies and he didn’t believe him.

He was nosy. And he knew the cocky smirk from somewhere. The eyes. That slightly wicked glint in them was too familiar. And they were similar to Madara’s. And suddenly the pieces clicked together as he remembered.

‘I know you. You’re Izuna.’ He more like announced than asked.

‘Yup, that is I. Madara was talking about me?’ Izuna put the hands into his pockets, preening like a peacock. Still the little attention-seeking shit then.

‘No. I remember you. From school.’ Tobirama said flatly. That seemed to have picked up Izuna’s attention.

‘Mmm. You don’t look familiar to me. Was it highschool?’

Of course the little prick didn’t even remember. ‘No. Elementary. It doesn’t matter.’ Tobirama brushed him off.

‘Sounds fair, it probably doesn’t. Anyway, I gotta go. Nice to meet you, Not Madara’s Fuckboy. Tell him I send my regards.’ Izuna inclined his head en lieu of saying goodbye and let himself out without waiting for any reply, leaving Tobirama alone once more. 

He had to sit down. Why didn’t he connect the dots? The same surname. Of course they had to be brothers or otherwise related. Izuna gave the impression he didn’t change that much from his prickly impish little self, the fact he didn’t even remember he used to be one of his torturers when they were kids was a testimony to that.

His previous intentions to try and do some more work were in ruins now. He wouldn’t be able to focus, his mind was everywhere. This sudden revival of one of his childhood traumas was very much unwelcomed. Why couldn’t he consign for oblivion these instead of important things that kept escaping his memory?! Damn his messed up brain.

In the end he just fished out his phone and kept alternating between instagram, tiktok, twitter and reddit while steadily sinking into the couch until he fell asleep on it. When he later woke up, the room was already dark but more alarmingly, he felt a presence next to him. 

‘Shhh, it’s just me.’ Madara’s low voice pierced the void. He was sitting on his haunches next to the couch somewhere near his head. Tobirama could have sworn he felt something on his cheek that flinched him awake. Was Madara caressing his cheek?

‘Oh. You’re back already? How did it go? What time is it?’ Tobirama scrambled up to a sitting position, willing the sleepiness out of his foggied mind.

‘It’s a little past nine. Don’t get me started, it was another strangled hooker. Poor thing. Forensics took some samples that need to be processed and the results of autopsy will be tomorrow but it seemed too familiar to the case from two days ago which suggests we might have a serial killer around. We’ll have to do some brainstorming with Dorsey and Maldonado and hopefully put an end to it before more people die.’ Madara shifted to sit next to him. From the way the couch dipped, he sank into it fully, meaning he was utterly drained.

‘That’s rough. And certainly classified.’ Tobirama pointed out.

‘Sorry, I’m tired. I needed to vent it.’ Madara rubbed at his eyes and let his arms fall down heavily.

One of them fell right on top of Tobirama’s own. He made to remove it once he realized his mistake but Tobirama was quicker to twist his palm and entwine their fingers together. He didn’t even know where his sudden bravery came from. Perhaps it was the dark that made it easier. 

‘You’re always here for me. You should know I’m here for you too whenever you need me.’ He said in a small voice. A sharp intake of breath came from the Uchiha before he tightened his hold on Tobirama’s hand.

‘You have no idea how much I need you. But I would hate if you thought you owe me and it’s some kind of obligation to reciprocate because that’s certainly not the case. I don’t want to take advantage of you when you’re vulnerable.’ Madara spilled out what from the shakiness of his voice was on his mind for a while. 

‘Wow. Thanks for the honesty. That’s very considerate of you.’ Tobirama breathed out. He was taken aback by the level of sincerity.

‘It’s been bothering me ever since we met. I like you, you know.’ Madara caressed the knuckles of Tobirama’s hand with his thumb. His voice was soft and void of any traces of pretense.

‘I might have had a suspicion about that. You’re not particularly subtle about it, after all. All those terrible innuendos and whatnot.’ Tobirama snorted, recalling the flirting attempts.

‘Hey, give me some credit, I actually try to restrain myself not to creep you out. I can be much worse when it comes to wooing someone.’ Madara whined and they both started chuckling.

‘So what now?’ Madara asked carefully when their laughter toned down.

‘We can… uh. I don’t know, watch an episode or two and go to bed? You should finally catch some sleep.’ Tobirama squeezed Madara’s hand to show him he was concerned about his lack of sleep.

‘I meant what now about us.’ Madara clarified. He shifted nervously when Tobirama didn’t respond right away.

‘Well, at the previous session my therapist said I should go with the flow. So why don’t we just… I don’t know, continue like this and let the events unfold on their own? Whatever happens, it happens.’ Tobirama suggested. He was pretty nervous himself, big talks were never his forte.

‘Whatever happens, it happens. I like that.’ Madara reached out to find Tobirama’s cheek and caress it softly with his fingertips. Tobirama sighed and leaned into the touch like a stray cat that finally caught somebody’s attention.

‘You’re crushing my hand. Am I making you nervous?’ He whispered as he leaned dangerously closer. From this close he could actually see Madara’s eyes. They were full of tenderness and want.

‘Yeah, of fucking course you’re making me nervous.’ Tobirama retorted without any real heat. In fact, he was on tenterhooks from all the unexpected confessions and intimacy of this moment. 

‘Don’t be.’ Madara murmured before he closed the gap between them and their lips met. Wave of excitement bolted through his body and he actually saw the sparks. His insides fluttered like mad. It was electrifying. His lips moved on their own accord in unison with Madara’s, softly and hesitantly at first. Then more insistently, as their desperation to get lost in one another bubbled over and their kissing turned much less coordinated but much more heated. 

After a long while, Tobirama finally caught some coherent thought which told him to stop before they took the matter too far. He wasn’t ready to get further than kissing and cuddling yet and he had to say it. He reluctantly broke the kiss. It left them both panting.

‘We should take a slower pace, if you don’t mind. I’m not comfortable with anything more serious yet.’ …’ _and please don’t be mad’_ was the part that he didn’t have the courage to voice.

‘That’s wise. And no, of course I don’t mind.’ Madara planted a small kiss on his cheek and sat back. Tobirama felt immensely relieved. Why did he think he would react badly anyway? That wasn’t like Madara. Probably his old habits of expecting the worst kicking in. Shouldn’t he take his meds again too?

‘So, I’ll go change while you set up the Game of Thrones session?’ Madara kissed his hand before he stood up and stretched, successfully interrupting Tobirama’s fretting. His back popped loudly at that.

‘Sounds good to me.’ Tobirama agreed. And if they happened to catch some cuddles while at that, all the better. He would tell Madara about meeting his brother in the morning. Postponing problems was one of his best abilities after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sheesh, this one turned out to be way longer than I anticipated. Guess they just wanted to kiss already. Yay! Are you happy it finally happened? And how do you feel about Izuna? I shall be eagerly awaiting your judgement! :D


End file.
